More Indians warming up to the Internet: Ericsson ConsumerLab study

Analysts have been forecasting stronger sales due to the expansion of high speed data networks by Asian and European mobile operators. KOLKATA: A sizeable 56% of people in India feel it is easier to find products and services on the internet than through friends and family, said an EricssonConsumerLab study, christened `The Networked Life’ unveiled Wednesday.

According to the Ericsson study, though 52% consumers in India remain in the “un-networked group,” even among folks who rarely use the internet, “there is an appreciation of its benefits".

The Ericsson study said India had one of the highest levels of peer-to-peer sharing at 79% among the local netizen community.

The Ericsson ConsumerLab study, however, depicted that netizens worldwide were the forerunners of the networked lifestyle being embraced by 82% of the global consumers.

Vishnu Singh, director of Ericsson ConsumerLab, said the reason for people’s increasing use of the internet is that their perceived value of it is growing along with the rise in usage.

“The networked lifestyle is all-inclusive because the benefit for each individual user increases as more people participate in the internet,” Singh said in a statement.

The study examines varying perceptions of a networked lifestyle among consumers at opposite ends of the user spectrum: netizens, who own on average at least three connected devices, use the internet for at least one hour a day, and rely on around seven digital services daily; and un-networked consumers, who own on average one device and use the internet no more than once a week, if at all.

The countries with the highest proportion of netizens are Chile (32 per cent), South Korea (29 per cent), and Brazil (28 per cent). But Brazil and other countries with high numbers of netizens, including China and Colombia – are also home to a large proportion of un-networked consumers who use the internet less than once a week or not at all.

Lower proportions of netizens in highly industrialized countries such as Germany and the US are balanced by a larger distribution of those who use the internet with some regularity.

A high percentage of netizens believe technology has the power to bring about positive change, and that it leads to the democratization of education. Yet, 40 per cent of them believe their privacy is compromised.

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